


room for three

by 21byuns



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Coffee Shops, Fluff, M/M, No Angst, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, just chansulay being cute and in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2020-12-16 07:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21032768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/21byuns/pseuds/21byuns
Summary: chanyeol is in love with junmyeon at first sight and also in love with yixing at first sight. they're in love with each other but they just might love him too.





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [destinyeol](https://archiveofourown.org/users/destinyeol/gifts).

Chanyeol really needs to find a new coffee shop to work on his music in. Truly. He has this problem where he’ll find a place that kind of works for him and then he’ll go there nearly every day until he gets sick of the place. Yesterday one of the employees at his favorite place asked him if he did anything outside of come to the coffee shop. He’d been only mildly embarrassed but decided that it was definitely time to move on. 

Jongdae told him about the place closer to his apartment that he’d been to a lot and Chaneyol considers it. If he goes there and Jongdae finds out that’ll mean he took advice from Jongdae and his friend will definitely give him one of those stupid “I told you so” looks because Jongdae is always right about things and Chanyeol’s pride is bigger than he is tall. 

He  _ really  _ doesn’t want to give his friend the satisfaction of being right…again, but his backpack with his laptop is heavy and his stomach is grumbling.  _ Fuck,  _ he thinks and searches up the name of the place on his phone, getting the directions to find out that it’s in walking distance of his apartment. 

The place is called  _ Bean Through _ and Chanyeol stares at it for a moment, laughing a little to himself before tugging open the door and hearing a light jingle above him. 

His first thought is that he’s definitely going to have to thank Jongdae later and then his mind kind of goes blank after that because the guy behind the counter steals every bit of his focus. 

He’s short, with messy, black, middle parted hair, and Chanyeol sees the hint of a tattoo peeking out of the back of his shirt and crawling up his neck. To be completely honest, Chanyeol is enamoured. 

“Are you sure you’re in the right place?” The beautiful man asks him and it jolts Chanyeol out of his place directly inside the front door. 

He laughs nervously and steps up the the counter, “Sorry, my mind just got away from me,” Chanyeol tells him and means to say more but god, the man is even more attractive up close. Extremely handsome with thick eyebrows and features that look soft but somehow masculine at the same time. Even with the acne scars and stubble, Chanyeol can’t deny the man is damn near perfect. A regular Prince Charming. 

“Ah,” he smiles, all bright white teeth -  _ did they just sparkle?  _ \- “A lot of people come in here on accident thinking we’re the place next door. That’s the reason I asked.” 

“What’s next door?” Chanyeol questions. 

“Chicken place,” the guy mumbles with a frown, “I swear they moved here on purpose. Trying to steal all my customers.”  _ Oh god, even his pout is cute.  _

Chanyeol finds himself laughing easily, “Are you devising a plan to take them down?” 

“One day I’ll find a way,” he glances back up at Chanyeol from where he was glaring at the counter. Smiles. “But for now, what can I get for you?” 

_ Oh yeah. He’s at a coffee shop. To get coffee.  _

“What do you recommend?” Normally Chanyeol gets an iced latte of some sort because he’s got a bit of a sweet tooth, but he thinks this guy would give him something good. He has a feeling. 

“Hmm,” he glances up at the ceiling, thinking for a moment and then he grins back at Chanyeol, “I make a really good pumpkin latte - which I know sounds very cliche for fall but sometimes we have to let ourselves have these things.” 

Chanyeol could be in love, he thinks. 

“I’ll take that then. Iced please.”

The man grins even wider, impossibly wider, “I’ll have it up shortly then. Any food to go with it?”

“Just a coffee cake muffin.”

“Warmed up?”

Chanyeol’s heart soars. “Of course.”

“I knew you seemed like someone smart,” he tells Chanyeol with a wink, “Find a seat and I’ll bring ‘em out to you.”

Chanyeol pays, trying not to grin to himself like a mad man, and then takes a seat close to the counter. It’s only then that he realizes they hadn’t been the only two people in the store. He’s only mildly embarrassed. Hoping no one else heard him blunder his way through that conversation. 

He knows it’ll take a few moments because there  _ are  _ other customers in line now and he figures it’s a good enough time to pull his laptop out and go over some of his demos, see if anything isn’t working for him still. 

With a last little glance at the beautiful barista, Chanyeol tugs his laptop out of his backpack and plugs his headphones in and boots up his system. It’s not as advanced as he’d like it to be but he’s not a real producer yet and this is the best he can afford given his circumstances. 

Before he can listen to anything, his muffin and coffee are placed in front of him and he glances up, flashing his ‘best Chanyeol smile’ at the barista. The man returns his grin, gives a thumbs up and heads back behind the counter. 

He leans back in the tall chair, pinching off a bit of the bottom half of his muffin - he likes to save the best part for last - to pop in his mouth. He presses play on his ‘Untitled No.blah blah blahh’ track, blanching at the name and his 3AM self for deciding to not name yet another song. 

It plays for a few moments and he thinks it’s a bit loud in his ears which is odd because he didn’t think it was that loud when he’d been working on it. Maybe he’s just having an off day with his hearing. 

His voice actually sounds good for once and Chanyeol applauds himself. Of course, with proper recording equipment it would sound better but he’s not supposed to be the one singing, he’s just a guide. Sometimes, though, he wonders what it would be like to produce a song for just himself. 

A tap on his shoulder. He jerks backwards, nearly toppling over the chair with him in it and when he rights himself he pauses the music. Desperately, he clings to the counter, waiting for his heart rate to return to normal and he turns to see the barista looking at him with wide eyes. 

After tugging his headphones out he asks, “I’m sorry, but did you need something?” He doesn’t want to be rude but when he’s working on his music he just...gets into this mood where nothing exists outside of his computer and possibly the food or drink put in front of him - usually courtesy of Jongdae when he barges into Chanyeol’s apartment because ‘Jesus Chanyeol haven’t you ever heard of sleeping or I don’t know, letting us all know you’re still alive behind your computer?’. 

The man simply points to where Chanyeol’s headphones are plugged into his laptop, or, well,  _ should  _ be plugged in to his laptop. 

Ah. So that’s why…

All the blood drains from Chanyeol’s face and he wants to melt into the floor. Of course.  _ Of course.  _ He’d accidentally play his music out loud. In front of the beautiful barista. Who he’d just met. Wonderful first impression. He’s mortified. 

“You don’t need to look so down,” the voice interrupts. Chanyeol looks up to see the barista glancing at the computer with a pensive look. “Is this your music? You made it?”

Chanyeol nods. 

“It’s good. Really,” he nods his head, “I mean, obviously I’m not an expert but from what I just heard I liked it. You have talent.”

“It’s not,” Chanyeol reaches for the right thing to say, “It’s not done of course. I’m actually listening to it right now - just the demo - to see what needs to be fixed. Usually I do this at home but lately a friend told me I need to stop holing myself up like a hermit.”

The barista laughs. His eyes turn into crescent moons and a bit of hair that had been tucked behind his ear sweeps forward and curls just slightly above his eyebrow. Chanyeol’s fingers itch. 

“My boyfriend produces as well!”

_ Oh. O h.  _

“Oh, does he?” Chanyeol asks, desperately trying to hide the tightness he feels in his heart. 

“I think he’d love to hear this,” he tells him, “If that’s alright with you of course? He works for a small entertainment company. They’ve produced a few songs for some of the rookies out there but it hasn’t deterred Yixing. He’s always,  _ always _ , making more music.” He pauses and grins seemingly to himself, “Yeah, I really think he’d like you. And your music.” 

Chanyeol is torn. Beautiful barista has a boyfriend. A boyfriend who is doing exactly what Chanyeol has always wanted to do. A golden opportunity laid out right in front of him. 

He smiles his best smile, his award winning ‘Park Chanyeol smile’, “Then I’d love to meet him.”


	2. chapter 2

Jongdae has just finished setting the table when Chanyeol steps in his apartment.  _ Ah.  _ He forgot it was already Friday. 

Every Friday night he, Jongdae, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo have dinner at his place. They all claim that it’s just a tradition and to keep their group close but Chanyeol knows they secretly use it as an excuse to check up on him without actually having to ask if he’s okay. 

“We were wondering when you would decide to grace us with your presence,” Kyungsoo tells him with a raised eyebrow. Chanyeol wonders if he could look more unimpressed. 

He snorts. “I’m glad you’ve finally acknowledged my presence is a blessing.”

Kyungsoo smacks the back of his leg lightly as he walks by to the living room to set his backpack down. 

By the looks of it, Jongdae and Baekhyun cooked this meal, considering a few pieces of pork look like they’ve seen better days. They’re not terrible cookers but they tend to get distracted when they’re cooking together. 

“You know you guys burned the pork again,” Chaneyol tells them when they all begin to dig in. 

“It’s better than you could do,” Baekhyun defends and gives Chanyeol a cross look. Jongdae’s pats him on the shoulder reassuringly and ruffles Baekhyun’s pink hair, “Don’t listen to the evil Chanyeol, the pork is fine Baek,” Jongdae tells his friend. Gives him a soft smile that lasts for just a beat too long. 

Baekhyun makes sure to stick his tongue out at Chanyeol every time they make eye contact and Chanyeol just laughs along throughout their dinner. 

When they’re all sated and leaning back in their chairs rubbing their stomachs, Kyungsoo breaks the silence. 

“Anyone have anything interesting happen to them today?” 

Jongdae sits forward in his seat with an excited look on his face, “Baek and I went to the pier today and walked around for a little bit. Somehow both our days off lined up today. A little kid kept telling Baekhyun he was gonna eat his hair because it was cotton candy colored.”

Baekhyun grows flustered at this. “Jongdae kept egging the kid on too!” He sputters and points menacingly - however menacingly a pink haired, 172cm tall person can look - at Jongdae, “He even tried taking a bite out of my hair. Gremlin.” 

“You’re both sunburnt,” Chanyeol points out and it’s only then that the pair stare at each other and glance back at Chanyeol sheepishly. 

“He forgot the sunscreen,” Baekhyun explains and nudges Jongdae with his elbow. 

“That’s only cause you assumed I had it. You never asked!”

“Well  _ maybe  _ if you didn’t assume  _ I  _ had it, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” Baekhyun pouts, “Now my nose is gonna peel.”

“You’re  _ both  _ idiots,” Kyungsoo interrupts them, “But I’m glad you guys actually got to have fun on your days off.” His expression falls sour. “I was stuck with Jongin who needed help moving into his new place.” He falls back into his seat, flounders his arms for a moment, “The boxes… so many of them.”

Chanyeol is kind of hoping he won’t have to share because he’s not quite sure he wants to tell them that he managed to fall in and out of love in one day.  _ Maybe _ out of love. The barista really was beautiful… Jury is still out on that one. 

“You’re oddly quiet,” Jongdae interrupts his internal crisis, “Usually you’re the first to share about your lively activities that don’t involve hermiting.”

He smacks his friends arm, still wondering if he can weasel his way out of this. He’s not  _ embarrassed _ . Except he completely is. What kind of idiot is he? 

Chanyeol sighs in resignation, “I met this… cute guy today.” His friends eyes widen and all three of them magically move forward in their seats like they’re linked psychically or something. It’s weird. “And then proceeded to have a conversation with him about his boyfriend.” Their faces are all equal looks of sympathy mixed with confusion. 

“Where at?” Baekhyun questions. 

He avoids Jongdae’s eyes, “Bean Through.”

“Ha! I knew you’d take my advice one day. It was that barista Junmyeon isn’t it? He owns the place did you know?”

Chanyeol’s eyes widen.  _ No.  _ He didn’t know Junmyeon owned it. He hadn’t even asked for his name. His brain repeats ‘idiot’ in various levels of volume. 

“Junmyeon.” He likes the way the name sounds coming out of his mouth. “He’s the short one, black hair, flower tattoo on his neck?” 

“ _ Everyone  _ is short to you,” Kyungsoo points out and Chanyeol fixes him with a look that has him holding his arms up in mock surrender. 

Jongdae just nods in answer to his question. “He’s nice isn’t he? Really easy on the eyes too.”

“Him having a boyfriend isn’t even the worst part,” Chanyeol confesses. At this, his friends gazes grow even more confused. “I played my demo out loud. In front of everyone, but most importantly, Junmyeon.”

“Which demo? Or did this one not have a name like the hundreds of others?” Baekhyun asks with a knowing look. Curse his friends for knowing his terrible habits. 

“One of the unnamed ones but a good unnamed one! The one I’ve been working on for nearly the past month. Jongdae, you helped me record it remember?”

His friend nods, “I really liked that one. I wish you’d name it and do something with it.”

“That’s the thing,” Chanyeol begins, trying and failing to hold in his smile. “Junmyeon’s boyfriend, Yixing, is a small time music producer like me. Junmyeon said he’d share the demo with him and maybe we could get together and work on some things.” Despite the oddness of the situation, music never fails to excite him. 

“That’s great! I hope it works out for you Yeollie,” Jongdae tells him, giving him a soft look with something else behind it. He always looks at Chanyeol so fondly, like he’s proud of him. It feels like he’s being wrapped in a warm hug. It’s why he always seeks out Jongdae first when he needs anything. He just. Knows. “Shit luck about Junmyeon having a boyfriend though. Maybe there’ll be someone else.”

The other two nod in agreement and Chanyeol is thankful to have the conversation end there. He’s still feeling strangely about the situation but he feels relieved to have gotten it off his chest. He mentally pats himself on the back for opening up to his friends with only minimal prompting. He’s getting better. 


	3. chapter 3

Junmeyon is stepping out of Bean Through just as Chanyeol makes it there. Before he’d left a day ago, the barista had told him to meet him here after his shift ended so they could head to Yixing’s studio. 

He grins at Chanyeol when their eyes meet and for a second Chanyeol forgets how to breathe. “Hi,” the shorter man greets him with a little wave. Chanyeol’s stomach flips. Junmyeon is adorable. “Sorry, I smell like a bakery, but I asked Heeyeon to close for me so I’m all yours tonight!” 

Instead of thinking about the phrasing of that sentence, Chanyeol clears his mind for a moment, shaking his hair so it falls in front of his eyes a bit. “Is Yixing’s studio far away?” He nods to himself. Change the subject. Good. 

Junmyeon glances at him as they walk. One of his eyes closes more than the other when he squints to block out the sun. It’s endearing. “It’s a couple bus stops away, do you have your bus card?” 

“Not paying for me huh? I see how it is,” Chanyeol jokes and Junmyeon, for a moment, looks slightly offended before he realizes Chanyeol was kidding. “I would pay for you, if you wanted,” Junmyeon tells him with a sincere smile. He ignores the way his heart beats a little extra loud. 

“Yixing told me he liked the demo,” Junmyeon admits with a sheepish smile. “I really liked it too - at least from what I heard in the store.” His grin widens and Chanyeol begins to say something but the bus is pulling up and it blows Junmyeon’s bangs into his eyes and Chanyeol. Can’t. Think. 

_ Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful.  _

“Umm… I’m glad.”  _ Such intelligence.  _

All Junmyeon does is smile a wide smile that Chanyeol has very quickly grown familiar with. 

His heart thuds. 

—

Yixing’s studio is kind of everything Chanyeol has ever dreamed of. He’s even got a black light. Chanyeol can’t stop wanting to touch everything. The sound equipment is so expensive. 

The moment they walked in the door, Yixing had smiled and Chanyeol immediately was intrigued. He may have been slightly infatuated with the other man’s accent. And the dimple. His brain tells him they have matching dimples and he finds it maybe a bit too cute. 

Junmyeon introduced them and stepped to the side all the while, Yixing began showing Chanyeol all his equipment and some of the songs  _ he  _ produced. 

“Baby, sit with me.” Chanyeol hears Yixing say with a slight whine to his voice. He looks up from the guitar he’d been messing with to see Yixing pouting at Junmyeon who has tinted cheeks. He glances at Chanyeol, embarrassed before Yixing tugs his arm, frown deepening. 

“Stop, it’s rude,” Junmyeon mumbles to his boyfriend and Yixing looks at Chanyeol. “If he sits in my lap, will you mind?” 

Chanyeol shakes his head. “I don’t see why you couldn’t,” he tells Junmyeon who gives him a little playful frown of his own but allows himself to be pulled into Yixing’s lap. 

He watches as Yixing wraps his arms around Junmyeon’s midsection, pulling him close and he presses a little kiss behind his boyfriend’s ear that has him squirming. Chanyeol…Chanyeol feels. Something. He glances away, picking up the guitar instead to play around with it. Yixing has so many guitars. 

The guitar feels perfect in his hands despite it having been a while since he’s used an acoustic one. Before he can think about it too deeply, he plays what he hopes is an acoustic version of his demo that he’d allowed Junmyeon to give to Yixing. 

He doesn’t sing because to be honest, his throat has been feeling a little sore, but he does hum. He thinks it sounds a little sadder than intended but that’s okay. 

“You really just like music don’t you?” Yixing asks after he’s finished. Chanyeol turns to see him resting his chin over Junmyeon’s shoulder. His eyes are soft and on his lips are a tiny little knowing smile. 

He nods, a little embarrassed to have been caught indulging himself. “It’s always been in my life. It makes me happy,” Chanyeol explains simply. “Music is  _ me.”  _

“I get it.” Something tells Chanyeol that Yixing probably understands more than anyone. Yixing looks at him thoughtfully, “How would you like to make a song for a project I’m working on? Work with me?”

“You’d do that for me?” 

“I’d be an idiot not to.”

Chanyeol preens. “Well, then I’d be an idiot to decline.”

—

“I have an update on the Junmyeon situation,” Chanyeol tells Jongdae over the phone. “Are you free for lunch?”

A pause on the other end. “Umm...Baekhyun and I are actually out to eat right now. You could come over for dinner though?”

He toes off his shoes in the doorway and greets Toben, putting the phone between his ear and shoulder as he ruffles his dog’s head. 

“You and Baekhyun huh? Sure it’s just lunch?” Chanyeol questions with a little laugh. 

He can almost hear Jongdae’s frown. If that was possible. “Yes, Chanyeol. Best friends can eat lunch together. We do it a lot for your information.”

“Oh, you  _ ‘do it’  _ a lot, do you?”

“Park Chanyeol, I’m going to cut off your fingers and feed them to your dog if you continue down this road of questioning.”

He laughs and begins pulling off his sweaty clothes he just took his jog in, “I’m kidding! I know you guys just like to go and have your ‘friend days’. I’ll just have lunch with Kyungsoo then.”

“ _ Are you sure it’s just a lunch?”  _ Jongdae mocks and Chanyeol hears him stick out his tongue and make a noise. 

“Well considering Kyungsoo has been dating a woman for the last two years…I think this will just be a friend lunch, yes. Unless Jihee is into that kind of stuff.”

“She’d smack you if she heard you right now.”

“I’m scared she has cameras in my apartment Jongdae. She  _ knows  _ things,” Chanyeol whispers into the phone, even going so far as to covering the mouthpiece. 

He hears Jongdae’s cackling laugh on the other end. “Go have fun on your lunch date with Soo. Text me what time dinner is tonight and Baek and I will come over.”

“ _ Baek and I,”  _ Chanyeol imitates playfully and hangs up before Jongdae can reprimand him again. 

He showers quickly and sends Kyungsoo a quick text, telling him to meet him at the boba place close to Kyungsoo’s apartment. 

_ Soo:  _

_ How do u know i’m even free? _

_ Me: _

_ ur always free for me ♡ _

_ Soo: _

_ … _

_ I’ll see you there in half an hour _

_ Ur paying  _

_ ♡ _

Half an hour later, he and Kyungsoo sit across from each other with their respective drinks and a box of macaroons in between them. 

Chanyeol’s wallet hurts with the expense of the macaroons but Kyungsoo loves them and he did kind of drag him away from his girlfriend. 

“So,” Kyungsoo begins, taking a bite of a nutella macaroon, “Junmyeon news. Tell me.”

He tries to hide his smile behind his hands. “Soo, you don’t even get it. He’s so small and adorable but he’s got this neck tattoo and his arms are beautiful.  _ And  _ even his boyfriend is next level type of attractive. Think Calvin Klein model.”

“So they’re like the power couple of your dreams?”

Chanyeol nods solemnly, “Yixing and I played together, just jamming and his voice is so,” he pauses, trying to find the right words between fumbling through bites of his vanilla macaroon. “It’s so attractive. Is it possible to be attracted to a voice? To want to marry a voice?”

Kyungsoo looks at him strangely, “I think that that’s a very  _ you  _ thing to say. Do you have anything of his I could listen to?”

“I could ask him for a copy of one of his demos.”

“Was it weird being around them being all coupley?” Kyungsoo questions, tilting his head as he finishes off the last of his macaroons. 

Chanyeol shakes his head slowly, “I guess at first?” He tries to think of the right way to say it. “Obviously, I am attracted to Junmyeon, I mean - he’s like, the most beautiful man I’d ever seen I really thought he was a Disney prince come to life. But then I saw Yixing and I think I might be attracted to them both.” He pinches his fingers together, leaving a bit of space between his thumb and pointer, “A teensy, tiny bit, attracted to them both. As a couple. Is  _ that  _ possible? To think a couple is hot?”

His friend laughs and Chanyeol loves when Kyungsoo laughs because he has the cutest smile when he does. All heart shaped and gummy. Makes him want to just hug Kyungsoo and never let go. 

“That’s another very  _ you  _ statement, Park Chanyeol. I think, that if you’re attracted to them both, then that’s okay. You can like more than two people at once. I think it’s only natural considering they’re both reasonably good looking human beings - according to you - and both basically your ideal type.” 

He ponders for a moment. “So what do I do?” 

Kyungsoo shrugs, “I’m not the one with a little crush on a couple. You’re a grown boy, you’ll figure it out.” 

The table and his forehead meet - not very gently. He doesn’t pout. Of course not. Kyungsoo is right, he’s a grown boy. He totally, most definitely, doesn’t pout. 


	4. chapter 4

A week later finds Chanyeol entering Bean Through, backpack laden with his laptop, lyrics notebook and various other things he’s shoved in there over time but never cleaned out. To say it’s heavy is an understatement. 

The line is impressively long and he debates on whether he should go set his backpack down in an empty seat before they’re all taken or if he should just stick with it. His backpack  _ is  _ hurting his back but what if he sets it down and it gets stolen? How will he replace his laptop? What -

“Excuse me, the line is moving.” Someone behind Chanyeol interrupts his thoughts and he gives them a sheepish look before apologizing and scooting forward. The line it is. 

He sees Junmyeon at the register, then running around behind the counter, making all the different drinks with dizzying speed. He has a couple coworkers but they too, even seem to be drawn into Junmyeon’s orbit - their eyes lingering on him pouring the right amounts of ingredients without even measuring. Chanyeol is in awe. 

“Sir…” That same voice cuts through again and Chanyeol’s ears burn. He really needs to get ahold of himself. He shuffles forward with his head down this time, so as not to get distracted  _ again.  _

His toes bump into the dark wood of the counter and Chanyeol jolts as he looks up to meet a brightly grinning Junmyeon. 

“Uh…” he says rather intelligently. 

Junmyeon laughs softly and Chanyeol feels like he’s floating. His whole body feels warm just hearing that. “Lost in your thoughts?”

Chanyeol nods, “Something like that.” His ears continue to burn and he just barely manages to keep his hands at his sides and not allow them to reach up and tug his hair to cover them. 

“Do you want the same thing as last time or do you want me to surprise you?” Junmyeon’s eyes sparkle and Chanyeol thinks he sees something in them but he doesn’t want to read into things. Not since this is only their third meeting. 

He thinks for a moment because that pumpkin spice latte was amazing but his favorite thing to drink is usually a vanilla iced coffee. It’s  _ his  _ drink. 

“Do you make vanilla iced coffees as well as your lattes?” He questions, raising his eyebrow in what he hopes is a joking manner. 

Junmyeon smirks, “I guess you’ll have to see. Is that all you’d like?”

“A plain bagel, toasted please.”

“Fresh out I’m afraid,” the barista tells him, face suddenly serious. 

“Oh…” Chanyeol isn’t sure what to do. He’d had his mind set on the bagel and he doesn’t really want another coffee cake muffin but -

“Chanyeol,” Junmyeon interrupts, reaching across the counter to tap his forehead, “I’m kidding. Yes, you can have the bagel. Now shoo, shoo, I have other customers silly.”

“But I haven’t paid-”

Junmyeon waves him off without looking and points for him to sit in the same place he had close to the counter last time. 

He takes his seat dutifully. Who is he to deny Junmyeon?  _ You just met each other you dummy, push those thoughts away.  _

Sighing at his long running internal monologue, he pulls out his laptop and this time checks to make sure his headphones are fully plugged in this time. 

The lyric notebook comes next. Jongdae had told Chanyeol that he should start writing again and easily enough, lyrics had come to him. It was odd, in the past, writing had been difficult to say the least. But lately, his mind drifts and songs just come to him. Something about dimples and flower tattoos. 

“So, not only are you a producer but you write too?” Junmyeon’s voice makes Chanyeol jump nearly out of his chair and the older man just chuckles as he takes a seat across the table. 

“So, not only are you a barista but someone who enjoys scaring people for fun?” Chanyeol counters which pulls a slight pout out of Junmyeon. 

He pushes the coffee and bagel towards Chanyeol on the little plate with a smile, “I can’t help that you’re so jumpy  _ and  _ clumsy.” He takes a sip of his own coffee. 

Chanyeol narrows his eyes in what he hopes looks a slight bit menacing - though the cream cheese on his upper lip that remains after his first bite of the bagel probably completely negates his menacing-ness. 

“Don’t you have work to do?” Chanyeol questions, desperately trying to change the subject because Junmyeon has reached across the table and thumbs the offending food off of his lip and sticks the thumb right into his mouth. 

Junmyeon leans back in his chair and lets out an obnoxious laugh that Chanyeol doesn’t thing is adorable. Not at all. 

“Heeyeon is watching the front for me,” he smirks, “I’m on my allocated break. I  _ do  _ own the place after all.”

Chanyeol chugs some of his coffee, hoping the iced drink will cool down his quickly reddening appearance. Junmyeon is just so off-putting to him. One minute he’s adorable and soft and Chanyeol wants to wrap him up in a blanket and pepper his face with kisses and the other he looks devastatingly handsome like he just walked out of a menswear photoshoot and Chanyeol kind of wants to lick his face instead. He’s definitely conflicted. 

“What if I have work to do?”

Junmyeon has the decency to look a little apologetic, “Oh,” he frowns, “I didn’t realize. I can go if you need. Yixing gets like that sometimes so I understand.” He gets up to go and Chanyeol feels his face burn but in a different way. He reaches out a hand to grab Junmyeon’s wrist and tugs it gently. 

“It’s okay, I was joking but it didn’t really come out the right way. Stay. Have your break with me,” he tells the other, hoping his smile looks genuine enough. 

The other man eyes him warily, probably wondering just if Chanyeol is actually kidding. Then his expression softens when he seems to find what he’s looking for in Chanyeol’s expression and he sits back down, eyes smiling softly. “Okay, I’ll just umm go on my phone then if you’re gonna be working.”

Now it’s Chanyeol’s turn to laugh, he pulls on Junmyeon’s wrist - which he only just now realizes he hadn’t let go - “No, tell me about yourself. I can do my work when you’re not here. I wouldn’t want you to waste your break time just looking at your phone.”

Junmyeon pulls his hand back and wears a contemplative expression, going so far as to tap his chin with a finger as if he’s thinking deeply. “Well, I’m twenty eight. I own this coffee shop here because I used to manage it then the owner decided he wanted to move to Fiji and gave the place to me. I have a pet bunny that was given to me by a friend because apparently I resemble one. I know Mandarin because Yixing insisted I learn it. I spent two years of my life in China which is where I met him,” he pauses, “I have a degree in Communications which just collects dust in my apartment. Oh, I don’t like spicy food. It makes me cry.” 

Chanyeol might cry right now. In front of him is the perfect man. The man of his dreams. “I don’t like spicy food either, for the same reason.” Junmyeon looks at him with this... _ look _ and for once Chanyeol doesn’t look away. 

—

_ To: Chanyeol _

_ You’re still coming today right?  _

_ To work on the song? _

_ From: Chanyeol  _

_ Of course _

_ As long as you sent me the right address ~ _

_ To: Chanyeol _

_ D’: Are you doubting my ability to remember my own address? _

_ From: Chanyeol _

_ I don’t know _

_ You could be luring me into yours and Junmyeon’s dungeon _

_ To: Chanyeol _

_ That’s only for our special guests ;) _

Chanyeol laughs and makes sure the message is marked as read before tucking his phone in his back pocket. He’d already been on the way to Yixing and Junmyeon’s place when Yixing had texted him. 

Over the past couple of weeks, he’d been meeting up with Yixing more and more, always at the studio though. The other man had messaged him a couple days ago, asking if this time Chanyeol could come to the apartment. He may have been a bit too eager to see their place if only so he could see another bit of their lives. 

Sadly, for him, all this meant his attraction to the couple only grew. 

Their apartment was in a nicer part of town - definitely for people who made good money. Standing in front of the building, his nerves get to him just a bit. This is  _ Junmyeon and Yixing’s  _ apartment. Where they live. Together. As a couple. Even with the invitation, he feels as if he’s intruding. 

He takes a deep breath and presses the buzzer in the lobby. 

Yixing pulls open the door with his signature dimpled grin and his bottom lip between his teeth. Something catches in his throat and he has to look away when the other man tugs him into their place. 

“Sorry about the mess,” Yixing announces, scooting what looks like a pair of pants, closer to the wall. He blushes a bit, “Myeon can be messy and I may have forgotten it was my turn to do laundry.”

They head deeper into the apartment past the hallway and Chanyeol takes it all in. It’s a really beautiful apartment but at the same time, very lived in and homey. It’s a bit messy - Chanyeol isn’t one to judge - but it all feels extremely domestic. 

There’s a few flowers in a jar on their coffee table. A bag of chips on the counter in the kitchen. Sticky notes on the refrigerator. So many little pieces of Junmyeon and Yixing lying around. Chanyeol’s stomach churns. 

“We can work on the couch since my office is definitely not clean right now. Thank you,” Yixing begins as he’s picking a few hoodies off the back of the couch. “For coming all the way here I mean. Myeon has the car for the next couple of days since he had to visit family. I also lost my bus card.” Yixing flushes in embarrassment.  _ Cute,  _ Chanyeol’s mind supplies. 

He waves him off, setting his backpack down on the floor in front of the couch. “It’s really no big deal. It’s not far away and  _ I  _ still have my bus card.” He winks and Yixing actually snorts. 

“Do you want anything to drink?” The other man asks. 

“Just water.”

He finishes setting up his laptop system while Yixing grabs the drinks. 

“We use the same system!” Yixing points out with an excited look. He sets the water down in front of them. “I didn’t think anyone used this system anymore since it’s kind of old. But gosh, this is gonna make things so much easier.”

“You’re perfect,” Chanyeol murmurs.  _ Shit.  _ “That’s perfect. I mean. That’ll be awesome. Cool. Good.”

If Yixing heard, he doesn’t show it, simply smiles and places the headphones over his ears. 

For the next couple of hours, they go through a couple of the demos Chanyeol started on for the game soundtrack Yixing is working on. 

They each debate on which video game has the best soundtrack, Chanyeol even going so much as to show Yixing the songs that inspired him to make his own demos. 

It’s refreshing, to find someone who knows so much about music. About producing. Writing lyrics. Composing. Someone who can keep up with all his technical terms and even helps him work through a silly part of a song that’s been bothering him. 

Somehow they get into a debate over which Zelda game is the best and Yixing begins muttering in Mandarin which terrifies Chanyeol a little because despite Yixings always half lidded eyes, he can be intense. 

“Wait, I forgot to feed Bunny,” Yixing interrupts the middle of the sentence he’d began. 

Chanyeol tilts his head in question and then remembers that Junmyeon mentioned he has a pet bunny. “Is it’s name ‘Bunny’?”

Yixing shakes his head and gives him a sheepish look, “I forget it’s name all the time so when Myeon isn’t around I just call it ‘Bunny’.” He gets up and clears their now empty glasses, “You wanna come see it?”

Chanyeol grins widely, “I’ve never wanted something more.” He’s lying of course. He can think of two things he wants more, but he does like bunny rabbits a lot. 

—

His apartment is blissfully empty when he returns. Or so, that’s what he’d thought when he had opened the door to absolute silence. 

The moment he stepped through his bedroom doorway, he’s greeted by a sleeping Jongdae. 

It’s odd because his friend rarely ever sleeps over, much less, in his bed of all places. He sets his backpack down on the ground near the bedside and comes over to sit on the edge of the bed. 

Chanyeol rouses Jongdae by brushing the damp with sweat hair away from his forehead. “Hey,” he murmurs, “Whats wrong?”

Jongdae opens a puffy eye and only then does Chanyeol notice their redness. His friend had been crying. He never cries. 

He continues running his hand through Jongdae’s hair as the other man speaks. 

“I don’t know it’s stupid,” he mutters, knocking Chanyeol’s hand away to cover his face with both his hands. 

Chanyeol pries his hands away and pokes a cheek, “It’s not stupid if it upset you Jongdae.”

His friend shakes his head vigorously. “No, it’s stupid because I shouldn’t be upset about it.”

“Well, what… is  _ it _ ?”

Jongdae is quiet for a moment.

“Baekhyun.”

That wasn’t what Chanyeol was expecting. Baekhyun and Jongdae are best friends. They’ve been friends ever since they were born - their mothers having also been best friends. Yeah, they have arguments like every other friendship, but they’ve always stuck together. Kind of freakishly so. One year, Jongdae left and moved to China for his job and Chanyeol remembers Baekhyun at his apartment nearly every day complaining and whining about being away from Jongdae for so long. Kyungsoo always jokes that they’re on their own wavelength that no one else really knows about. 

“What about Baekhyun?” 

Silence. Silence so long, Chanyeol thinks Jongdae has fallen back to sleep. 

“He went on a date tonight.”  _ Oh.  _ “With Taeyeon.”  _ Oh, oh.  _

Chanyeol winces. Baekhyun has been going on about this beautiful girl from the music store he met and somehow wheedled his way into getting her number. He’d never noticed the slight pained looks from Jongdae - mainly because he hadn’t really known there was any reason to look at Jongdae during those rants of Baekhyun. 

“So…” Chanyeol presses on. He doesn’t want to put any feelings in Jongdae’s brain. He wants his friend to work it out himself because honestly it’s been a long time coming. 

Jongdae brings his hands down harshly on the mattress, his eyes wet just slightly. “So!” He huffs. “I don’t want to care about this! Or him!” He sits up, leaning against the headboard, knees pulled to his chest. One hand comes up to roughly wipe away the barely there tears. “I never wanted this to happen. Just to become another stupid cliche! Best friends can stay best friends without having to be in love!”

“So you’re ignoring your feelings to prove a point to society or something?”

His friend frowns at him but says nothing. Chanyeol pushes on, “Jongdae, listen. Whatever you think you were helping by ignoring your feelings, obviously isn’t working. Has society clapped you on the back for staying ‘just friends’ with Baekhyun? Has someone walked down the street, seen you two and high fived you for being a respectable distance away from each other?”

Jongdae shakes his head. 

“So who were you trying to prove something to?”

He’s quiet again before answering this time. Won’t even look Chanyeol in the eyes. “Have I ever told you, what happened when I moved to China?”

Now it’s Chanyeol’s turn to shake his head. 

Jongdae laughs, a little ugly, quiet thing. “Before I left, Baekhyun told me that… he had found someone he loved. I tried to ask him who because we’re best friends. We tell each other those things. But he never did. Told me it was pointless.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widen when he comes to the realization. “Oh,” he breathes out, “that was a long time ago.”

“It was me. Baekhyun loved me,” Jongdae’s voice is barely above a whisper. “And then I left him. For a year Chanyeol. I did whatever I wanted to in China. You know? I didn’t even think about him. That’s the worst part. I had so much fun when I wasn’t working. I slept with people. I partied. I did whatever I wanted because I felt free. But when I came back, it was as if nothing had changed except sometimes he looked at me different. I never thought about it. But he’s moved on and I’m years late.” His voice cracks on the last words and he drops his face to his chest, pulling his arms over his head. 

Chanyeol isn’t quite sure what to say. He’s not  _ good  _ at this type of stuff. Usually Jongdae is the one he’ll ask. Maybe, he can text Kyungsoo and ask him to come help. 

“I want to help you,” he decides on finally, “But I don’t really know how to.”

Jongdae peeks up and gives Chanyeol a soft, sad look, “Can you just give me some Chanyeol cuddles tonight? Please.” 

“Jongdae, you know the answer will never be no.”

In the morning, Chanyeol thinks, he’ll text Kyungsoo and they can get this all figured out. His own love life included. 

But for now, he tugs Jongdae close to him, situating then so the smaller man is pressed to his chest. He drops a kiss to the crown of Jongdae’s head. “Goodnight dork. We’ll get this all figured out okay? I’m here for you.”

—

“Kyungsoo we are desperate and in love and we need your help so please come over and make cookies with us,” Chanyeol begs into the phone and he hears a sigh on the other end. 

“You’re lucky I love you both. I’ll be over with Jongdae’s favorite ice cream. Do you need anything Chanyeol?”

He shakes his head then realizes Kyungsoo can’t see him. 

“You just shook your head didn’t you?” His friend questions flatly. 

Chanyeol nods his head. 

“...” 

“Love you Soo!”

Their mutual friend arrives to Chanyeol’s apartment about an hour later and Chanyeol figures it’s a good enough time to wake Jongdae. 

He heads into his bedroom to see his small friend still under the covers. For a moment Chanyeol just stares at him, feeling like shit for not being good at this relationship stuff. He hates seeing Jongdae upset like this. 

“Hey dork, wake up,” Chanyeol whispers and gives his friends shoulder a little push. Jongdae rolls over and cracks his eyes open - this time they’re puffy from sleep and not crying. Chanyeol does pat himself on the back there. If he can’t give good advice he can still give good cuddles. 

“Time is it?” Jongdae slurs rubbing his face. 

Chanyeol glances at the clock on his bedside table, “Almost noon.”

Jongdae lets out a groan and presses his face deep into Chanyeol’s pillow. “I didn’t call out of work yet. They’re probably wondering where I’m at.” His voice is super muffled but Chanyeol gets most of it. 

“I’ll call them and make something up. Just go take a shower and brush your teeth and all that. I’ve got some clothes that should fit you...maybe… but Soo is here and we’re gonna make cookies and have a relaxing day okay?”

His friend lifts his arms up, stretching them towards Chanyeol and he obliges and tugs him in for a tight hug. “Chanyeol, you’re… Thank you Chanyeol. Thank you.” Jongdae’s voice is muffled again as he shoves his face into Chanyeol’s shoulder. He squeezes him extra tight and Chanyeol lets out a choked breath. For someone so small, Jongdae is very strong. 

When Jongdae is finally showering he makes his way back into the kitchen and walks up to Kyungsoo who is standing at the counter setting out the ingredients for cookies. 

Chanyeol doesn’t think before coming up behind him and giving him a tight hug as well. Kyungsoo tenses at first but relaxes and pats Chanyeol’s crosses arms. “You’re in rare form today,” he comments with a little chuckle and Chanyeol lets go, ruffles Kyungsoo’s short hair. 

“The Jongdae Disease got to me. He’s such a cuddler, it rubbed off on me,” Chanyeol explains and rifles through his fridge to hand Kyunsoo more eggs. 

Kyungsoo is quiet for a moment, thoughtful. “How is he?” When he catches Chanyeol’s eyes there’s a look of gentle concern there. 

“Well, he’s a bit late to the party we all realized.”

His friend snorts, “He finally realized Baekhyun is so far up his ass they could be the same person?”

Chanyeol gives Kyungsoo a disgusted look, “Dude that’s kind of gross,” Kyungsoo levels him with a look, “I mean, yeah it’s accurate but now I’m thinking about the both of them like. In one skeleton.”

Kyungsoo shudders at that. “Okay maybe it was gross but you understand what I meant, stop making my words weird.”

“Yeah, remember when he went to China and Baekhyun told us he was in love with someone?”

Kyungsoo nods. Then his eyes widen in realization. His mouth nearly drops open. “Baekhyun loved him back then? When he had that weird bowl cut? God that’s disgustingly adorable.”

“Mhm,” Chanyeol nods and begins whisking the eggs to put in the cookies. “But… Baekhyun went out with Taeyeon last night.” 

That’s when the  _ other  _ realization hits Kyungsoo. “Oh.” 

Chanyeol mumbles an agreeing noise but says nothing more. 

“If anything Jongdae should tell him. They’ve been friends since the womb, so it’s not like this will set them back.”

He pours the eggs in with the mix. “Even though Baek went out with Taeyeon?”

Kyungsoo quirks his lips and his eyebrows pinch together. He frowns. “I think Jongdae should be selfish for once.”

“Awh, it’s nice to know you care about me and my little heart,” Jongdae interrupts them both. He walks up between them reaching up into the cabinet to grab a glass. 

Kyungsoo scoffs, “No. I’m tired of seeing you mope and pine. There’s this little black cloud that follows you around and it kind of smells.”

“I think that’s just his hair,” Chanyeol cuts in and he receives a smack for his troubles. 

Jongdae rolls his eyes after downing most of his water. “I didn’t mope  _ or  _ pine. I’m not broken hearted. Just…” He trails off and both Kyungsoo and Chanyeol give him matching knowing looks. 

“Okay mom and dad, that was gross, don’t look at me like that again. Jesus you both looked like my parents,” Jongdae raises his hands in surrender. “So what? I’m a little heartbroken. A little. It’s fine.”

“It’s over Baekhyun, your best friend, you dork,” Chanyeol supplies. “That’s not  _ fine. _ ”

“It’s not what you want to hear right now,” Kyungsoo begins and turns away to begin placing the dough on the baking sheets. “But you really have to come clean to him. Not to be understanding of his side either but, now that you’ve just realized he’s loved you all this time, he deserves to hear something from you.”

Jongdae takes it all in and Chanyeol can see the way he wants to argue. He’s known Jongdae for long enough to know exactly what he wants to say. 

“You’re right. I do owe him that,” he gives them a sheepish look. “I hate being scared of Baekhyun. Stupid, cotton candy haired, idiot.”

The cookies go in the oven and Kyungsoo sets the timer. They all head to the couch and Chanyeol turns on the Playstation. He ruffles Jongdae’s hair as he takes a seat next to him. “You’ll get through it. You two. You always do.”


	5. chapter 5

Junmyeon plops down in front of him again, this time with a new drink and a cheese danish. 

“I’m slowly working you through the whole menu, so appease me,” he tells Chanyeol and pushes it towards him. 

Chanyeol laughs softly and tugs his headphones down so they rest on his neck. He goes to respond but he’s overtaken by a powerful yawn. 

“Damn, late night?”

“Comforting a friend,” Chanyeol answers and picks up the danish. He rips a corner off and hands it to Junmyeon who gives a little smile before grabbing it from him to pop it in his mouth. Chanyeol doesn’t stare at his lips or anything. 

“Mind if I ask what happened? I wanna be nosey.” Junmyeon’s eyes sparkle when they turn into crescents. It’s hard not to physically swoon. 

He shakes his head, his hair covering his eyes a slight bit. “My friend - Jongdae - just came to the realization he’s been in love with his best friend for like. Years. But that best friend - Baekhyun - just went on a date with a girl he met.”

“Oh wow, that’s… a lot to take in wow. How long have they been friends for?”

“Since before they were born, literally.”

Junmyeon gives an impressed look. “I don’t know them, but I’m sure they’ll work it out. People who’ve been together like that for a while tend to be able to push through things.”

“You sound like you speak from experience?”

The shorter man shifts in his seat. “Something like that yeah.” Chanyeol guesses that’s a touchy subject and drops it. 

“How’s ‘Bunny’?” He questions with a mischievous grin. 

Junmyeon opens his mouth and closes it, pouting almost like a fish. “I can't believe Yixing got you on that too!” He crosses his arms, almost like a petulant child. “He has a name you know.”

Chanyeol does know but he likes hearing Junmyeon say it. “Oh? I seem to have forgotten. You should tell me again.”

Junmyeon narrows his eyes but he can hardly look intimidating. Chanyeol thinks he resembles his pet. Yixing’s friend was right. Junmyeon definitely is a bunny. 

“Mr. Evil Overlord Jr.” It’s barely whispered but Chanyeol heard it. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard that quite well. Can you say that again Myeon?”

“Mr. Evil. Over. Lord. Jr.” This time it’s through gritted teeth and Chanyeol cracks up at the displeased look on the shorter man’s face. 

“I think it suits you both.”

Junmyeon reaches across the table and smacks his arm, “I can’t believe you and Yixing are in this together. Terrible. The both of you.”

That causes Chanyeol to go silent for a moment.  _ ‘The both of you’ _ . His heart thuds at the words. Initially he’d kind of given up any hope of getting anywhere with Junmyeon and Yixing, deciding friendship from them would be good enough. But hearing that. Hearing that has his heart thundering and he hopes the tips of his ears are covered by his unruly hair because surely Junmyeon would notice. 

“Ha… Yeah.” Chanyeol reverts back to the same feeling of when he first met the beautiful man. He’s stuck. 

Thankfully he’s saved by Heeyeon demanding that Junmyeon return to work now instead of later because they were having a small rush of customers. 

Junmyeon reaches across the table and pokes the tip of Chanyeol’s nose as he gets up, giving him a warm look when he leaves. 

When he’s sure Junmyeon is distracted with customers, he reaches up and touches his nose, only to pull back after feeling his entire face heating up. Maybe he’s a little more screwed than he initially thought. 

He finishes up the demo and leans back in his seat, patting his shoulder. This time he names it. 

_ ‘Room for Three.’ _

—

“So the problem with all this is what exactly?” Joohyun questions while sliding into the booth. She’s Chanyeol’s friend from his attempt at University before he dropped out. Somehow, they’d remained great friends and met up often because she’s always extremely honest and amazing at advice giving. Chanyeol thinks her and Kyungsoo would get along very well if they ever met up as a friend group more often. 

She slides the beer across the table to him and rather than taking an immediate sip, Chanyeol plays with the condensation dripping down the side. Picks at the label. 

“Chanyeol, don't avoid my question. I know you wanted to come here and get plastered with me and ‘accidentally’ throw darts  _ into  _ someone, but that means we gotta do all the talking now.”

He nods and reaches across the table to flick a strand of her hair, “Can we really throw darts  _ into _ someone?”

Joohyun takes a sip of her beer and crosses her arms. The expression on her face tells him that he won’t be getting an answer until he breaks. 

“I just…” he trails off lamely. He’s not even sure what to say. Truly. Thinking about Junmyeon and Yixing makes his head hurt sometimes. Most of the time. He doesn’t even really know what he wants from them. “I don’t know what my feelings are towards them yet. But being around them makes my mind feel all scrambled up.” He motions around his head to show the scrambling in case she didn’t get it. “You know. Egg.”

She gives him an unimpressed look. 

“What was the analogy not good? I have more-”

“Chanyeol.” Her voice is firm. He pouts. 

“They’re both hot and sometimes I wanna get in their pants but then I feel weird about it because I shouldn’t want that right? They’re together. And happily together, you know?”

Joohyun at least gives him a sympathetic look, her frown lines smoothing away. “Chanyeol, you big idiot, you know polyamory is a thing, right?”

He nods because, yes, of course he does. It’s not the 60’s anymore. 

“Yes, but that’s so..” He waves a hand, finally takes a sip of his beer. “Idealistic. Not likely to happen to me. Two of the most beautiful men I’ve ever met - who have been in a strong relationship for like, years - just being okay with me suddenly appearing? No. That’s. No. Highly unlikely bordering impossible.”

“Bud, you gotta give yourself more credit,” she reaches across the booth to smooth down some of his hair. Push it back from his face. “You deserve good things. To be happy. You’re a good person Chanyeol.” She pauses her hand movement and grasps his chin between her fingers, “And hey, if they don’t? Guess what? They’ll have lost the most wonderful man I know alright? So don’t worry about that. Take your time, like you would any other relationship. Get to know them. Spend time with them, show them you care. Flirt. Up the romance. The whole nine yards or whatever it is. Do that for both of them.” She let’s go of his chin and pinches his cheek. “Do that all right and they’ll fall in love with you dork.”

He really doesn’t even know what to say. Somehow, Joohyun always has the right words. 

“You’re like, the all seeing eye or something. Did you know that?” Chanyeol tells her and she squeezes his cheek again before letting go. He finds himself blushing just slightly because of all the praise. 

She smirks, “I know that’s why you keep me around.” Another sip of beer, “Also this advice isn’t free. You’re paying tonight.”

Chanyeol groans and she laughs then downs the beer completely. “And yes Chanyeol, we can throw darts  _ into  _ people, but we will probably have to leave immediately after. So, only darts  _ after  _ drinks.”

—

A hangover. That’s what this feeling is. Something Chanyeol hasn’t felt in quite a long time, even despite going out with the whole group before. 

Last night, he and Joohyun had been forcibly removed from the bar for trying to throw the darts at other patrons, then at each other. 

The bartender had called security and shoved them a bit roughly outside but all the pair could do was cackle with laughter at having been actually kicked out of a bar for the first time in their lives - well, second for Joohyun but she doesn’t very much like talking about the first time. It involves a miniature horse and possibly red, thigh high sparkly boots. That detail is still in the air somewhere. 

Before she’d gone into her apartment, Joohyun had pulled Chayeol in for a hug and reminded him just to go easy on himself and especially on his heart. 

“It’s made of gold Chanyeol. Treat it that way,” she’d told him, slurring just a bit but smiling at him softly in the way that she reserved only for him. 

Her girlfriend Seulgi had come outside to help corral her into their apartment complex and thanked Chanyeol for making sure she got home safely. 

Before they got inside, Seulgi had kissed her forehead gently, whispering something which prompted the other to giggle. 

Chanyeol watched from a distance, thinking about a lot of things but especially how nice it would be to have Junmeon or Yixing be the ones to wait up for him if he’d gone out. 

But this morning all he can think about is how terrible he feels and how badly he wants everything to just stop spinning. 

This time when he steps into his living room he finds that he is indeed, blissfully alone. It’s nice until he realizes that being alone is, well, lonely. In a weird way he finds himself missing Yixing’s dopey smile and Junmyeon’s kind of dumb jokes. 

Would it be strange of him to ask if he can come over? Maybe he could just say he wanted to work on the song. 

He’s dialling the number before he even thinks about it. 

“Kyungsoo.”

Silence. A sigh. “Yes Chanyeol?”

“I think … that I miss Yixing and Junmyeon.”

“How can you  _ think _ you miss them? You either do or you don’t. And didn’t you just see them last week? Don’t you text them daily?” 

He did. He does. 

“Yeah but I mean  _ them _ ,” he sighs not quite knowing how to phrase it without sounding too needy. “I just want to be around them,” is what he finally decides on. 

He hears Kyungsoo’s frustration on the other end but Chanyeol knows Kyungsoo isn’t actually upset. 

“So text them and just ask to hang out. Just like you would me or Jongdae or Baekhyun or  _ any  _ of your other friends. They’re your friends right?” Kyungsoo questions 

Chanyeol nods. He knows Kyungsoo will know because that’s just how Kyungsoo is. 

“Okay, so, be their friend. You can do it. Just because they’re a couple doesn’t mean you can’t be their friend first. I’m sure this whole thing is new to you, but these are things you’ll have to do alone. None of us can help you make that first step to them Chanyeol.”

Of course Kyungsoo is right as well. Chanyeol realizes all his friends are absolutely amazing at advice giving and somehow he’s the odd one out. 

“You’re right. Thank you,” he mumbles trying not to sound too embarrassed. He swears he’s not normally this terrible at relationships but there’s something about the other two that he just, truly doesn’t want to mess up. 

Kyungsoo snorts. “Of course I’m right. Go have fun Chanyeol. I’m with Jihee so please… don’t interrupt again.” It’s said with no bite but Chanyeol knows better than to bother his friend when he’s with his girlfriend. 

“You’re the best Soo.”

“You are too, dork.”

—

“It’s clean this time!” Yixing announces happily and tugs Chanyeol through the door of their apartment. 

Chanyeol finds himself laughing a bit and looking around to see that while maybe it wouldn’t be clean to Baekhyun’s standards, it’s definitely cleaner than the first time he was over. 

He takes a step and nearly falls over, having to manoeuver around the rabbit as it hops around the place. 

“You guys just let him run around in here? You trust him not to chew on anything?” Chanyeol questions and sets his backpack down on the couch. 

Junmyeon enters from the bedroom looking sleepy, hair sticking up in a million different directions. He must have just come from a nap. Chanyeol’s heart thumps loudly and the rabbit eyes him like it knows. 

“Sorry what?” He repeats because apparently Yixing has answered him and naturally he’d been distracted by Junmyeon. 

Yixing laughs and pokes Chanyeol’s side. “I said, yes, he’s allowed to be out and about when either of us are here. He’s gotta get some exercise or he’ll get fat.” He sits on the couch and Junmyeon gives Chanyeol a quick wave before shuffling over and falling basically into Yixing, curling around him and mumbling something. Yixing runs his hands through the mess of hair and smiles while he looks up at Chanyeol. “Bunny gets fat because Myeon feeds him too much.”

“Stop calling him Bunny,” the other man mumbles all childlike into Yixing’s neck and both Chanyeol and him laugh. 

It’s quiet for a moment and Chanyeol thinks maybe this was a terrible idea because he’s sort of just standing there while the other two cuddle on the couch and-

“You wanna watch a movie and stay over for dinner? It’s Myeon’s day off, so usually we try and spend it in just to have time together,” Yixing asks, hand still running through Junmyeon’s black hair. It’s mesmerising to look at and Chanyeol finds himself coughing to break his eyes away. 

“Are you sure you want me here? I’m not intruding on your ‘couples’ time am I?”

This time it’s Junmyeon who answers. He turns his head away from Yixing and sets Chanyeol with a look that means ‘no arguing’. “Yes Chanyeol, we want you here. Or else neither of us would’ve said ‘okay’ when you asked to come over. You wouldn’t be intruding.”

_ We want you here.  _ The phrase repeats in his mind he thinks, until it loses all meaning. He likes hearing that. 

“Okay,” Chanyeol nods. “Okay.”

Yixing pushes Junmeyon off playfully and the other whines when he falls onto the floor. He looks up at Chanyeol with puppy eyes and grabby hands. 

“Will you pick me up Chanyeollie?” Junmyeon questions with a pout and Chanyeol’s ears burn bright upon hearing the nickname. 

He tugs Junmyeon up, maybe a bit too forcefully. He blames it on how small the other man is when they knock together and he makes a hasty step back to clear the space between them. 

When he turns to face Yixing, the other man is only looking between the two with an unreadable expression. They make eye contact and that dimple appears along with a warm smile. “I’ll order food and stuff. Chanyeol are you okay with just pizza?”

He nods, “I’m not really picky. Just no anchovies.” Chanyeol hopes Yixing didn’t think anything of the little mishap. 

“You and Myeon pick out the movie then, I’ll order.”

They spend a few minutes flipping through the pretty decently sized movie collection the couple have. 

“Yeah, Yixing really loves movies. Sometimes we go to the theater twice or three times a day to see the same movie,” Junmyeon tells him fondly. “He’s kinda roped me in so now any time we see a movie we think we might like we’ll just buy it. Impulsiveness at its finest.”

Chanyeol finds that extremely adorable and endearing but he doesn’t say anything. Just smiles to himself and thumbs through the cases. 

“I don’t see a lot of scary movies?” He points out and Junmyeon flushes. 

“I get scared easily,” Junmyeon admits with a sheepish look. He sits back and crosses his legs, looking smaller than normal. “Yixing loves them too, they’re all his. I still get scared watching kids movies sometimes.”

"I bet you cry watching Disney movies too don't you?" Chanyeol questions and Junmyeon levels him with a look that he fears for only a moment before the older man is giving him sad eyes.

Junmyeon crosses his arms, "Well maybe if Mufasa dying wasn't so upsetting I wouldn't cry." Chanyeol wonders how this man is pushing thirty.

Yixing comes back at that moment and wraps his arms around Junmyeon's midsection. "Yes Myeon, we all know how sad that is. Should I also tell Chanyeol how much you cried while watching Zootopia?"

Chanyeol freezes at that. A wide grin spreads across his face because if there is any movie that instantly makes him feel happier, it's Zootopia.

The couple seem to instantly notice his grin before he opens his mouth. Yixing begins protesting the same moment Junmyeon says, "Yes! Let's watch it! Pleaseeeee Xing? Chanyeol tell him to let us watch it."

He doesn't know what to do. Decision making is not his thing. But he also finds it extremely hard to resist Junmyeon's soft begging voice and puppy eyes. Chanyeol thinks it's not fair that someone of his age should look this cute. Truly. Not fair. On the other hand though, Yixing is violently shaking his head. "He will cry and Chanyeol, you seem like the type to cry." Yixing... isn't wrong.

"Umm...maybe some time, just me and you could watch it Myeon?" Chanyeol tells him, hoping his voice doesn't waver. The implications behind his statement are too much, even just for him and he wonders if maybe he went too far.

Junmyeon smiles at that and Yixing's shoulders drop in relief, his arms gently falling away from around his boyfriend. "I'd like that," Junmyeon answers and comes over to pull Chanyeol into a hug which, is not unwanted, but definitely unexpected. Apparently, he's a cuddler.

"That's all good and nice, but what movie are we watching tonight?" Yixing interrupts them while walking over to the couch to get himself comfortable.

Junmyeon doesn't break his embrace with Chanyeol, instead choosing to shuffle step over to the couch, shove him down and then curl on top of him. The whole thing has Chanyeol completely flustered but he doesn’t say anything...he likes the feeling of Junmyeon against him. 

“You choose,” Junmyeon mumbles seemingly half asleep already. Yixing looks at him and then looks at Chanyeol. “Guess it’s up to you again Chanyeol.”

“Fine then, we’re watching The Nun because I haven’t seen it and you guys deserve it for stressing me out so much,” Chanyeol finally tells them and Junmyeon pinches his side while Yixing let’s out a dorky sounding laugh. 

Yixing tugs Chanyeol’s legs into his lap and then makes a grab for the remote, pulling the movie up on the TV. “Okay, just remember, when the two of you babies can't sleep tonight it’s your fault Chanyeol.” 

Chanyeol wants to know how Yixing is going to know how he sleeps tonight but he just narrows an eye, trying to look intimidating. He’s a man. A manly man. He won’t be scared. It’s just a movie. 

~

“I don’t want to move.” 

Yixing sighs, “Chanyeol, she’s not gonna get you. It’s just a movie. You saw the ending. You’ve seen the rest of the movies, the Nun dies.” 

He’s not convinced. It doesn’t help that the pair have a super long hallway in their apartment - perfect for creepy nuns to sit at the end of. 

“I’m not leaving this couch and you can’t make me,” Chanyeol protests with Junmyeon latching onto him not even saying anything. “I think Myeon would agree.” He feels the elder’s head nod against his shoulder blade. He’s literally koalaed to Chanyeol, having done so in the middle of the movie and not moved since. 

“Am I allowed to say I was right? Is this where I get to say it?” Yixing asks while pulling the both of them towards him on the couch. They end up in a weird position really, the two of them basically squishing Yixing but he doesn’t seem to mind. “It’s okay, my two dorks. I won’t let the evil Nun get you. We can all sleep here.”

It takes a few adjustments for them all three to get comfortable but they eventually manage to fit and not have any elbows in any ribs. Yixing tugs a blanket off the back of the couch and throws it over them. 

Just before Chanyeol falls asleep, he hears Junmyeon whisper, “We’re gonna have to get a bigger couch.” His heart goes haywire. Just a few little words, probably spoken in semi-consciousness and his heart is close to exploding. Chanyeol goes to sleep feeling warmer than ever. 


	6. chapter 6

“I’m going to talk to Baekhyun tonight, he asked to come over and I think I should get it over with,” Jongdae explains, dropping onto Chanyeol’s lap. 

“Hello to you too?” Chanyeol questions but doesn’t push Jongdae away when he turns to cuddle Chanyeol, latching himself to his midsection. “I keep forgetting you have a key and you’re practically silent when you walk. Next time announce your arrival or something.” 

Jongdae huffs in response but says nothing further, opting to shove his head closer to Chanyeol’s chest if that’s even possible. 

The television plays an episode of Busted in the background and Chanyeol tunes it out for a moment, reaching down and running a hand over Jongdae’s back in what he hopes is a comforting manner. “Shouldn’t you tell him because you  _ want  _ to tell him, not because you want to ‘get it over with’?” 

“I do want to tell him,” Jongdae relents, voice muffled by Chanyeol’s shirt. “I’m just scared. How do you confess to someone you’ve been in love with your entire life, who also apparently was in love with you  _ your  _ entire life? If I lose him, it’ll ruin me.” His voice cracks at the end and Chanyeol really hopes he doesn’t cry. He can’t handle Jongdae crying. He’ll cry. 

Chanyeol squeezes him tightly, places a kiss to the top of his head, “I think, if you love him, whatever you do will be enough. You’re both disgistingly in love and have been for quite a while.”

They lie there for a couple more hours and Chanyeol watches Busted, not quite paying attention, focusing on rubbing Jongdae’s back until his heartbeat stops pounding against Chanyeol’s chest. 

Jongdae’s phone ringing breaks the silence and his eyes widen when he leans back. He shows the phone to Chanyeol and it’s Baekhyun’s contact that shows up on the screen surrounded by hearts. He looks panicked and Chanyeol squeezes his wrist. “Answer it dummy!” Jongdae makes a pained noise and answers, quickly disintangling himself from Chanyeol and grabbing his coat from the rack by the door. He seems very focused on what Baekhyun is saying, not even responding but his face changes expressions so quickly it’s hard for Chanyeol to keep up. Jongdae waves a quick goodbye and is out the door. 

Before Chanyeol can do anything else,  _ his  _ phone chimes with a few messages. It’s the group message he has with Junmyeon and Yixing. They’re asking for him to join them for dinner. It’s been nearly a month since the night where they all slept together on the couch and almost every day since then, Junmyeon has gotten Chanyeol through his whole cafe menu and he and Yixing have nearly finished their song together. He’s been spending so much time with them lately it almost feels like…

An hour later he’s standing in the hallway of the complex, shifting nervously and holding take-out. 

He hears a muffled thump from inside the apartment and then Junmyeon appears at the door, hair and clothes rumpled but an extremely fond and endearing smile. “Chanyeollie,” he hums warmly, taking the food in his hands and then tugging Chanyeol in for a too tight hug. 

They shuffle inside and Chanyeol takes in the sight of a slightly more rumpled Yixing on the couch. He spreads his arms out, making grabby-hands towards Chanyeol and who is he to deny Yixing? As Junmyeon sets out the food, Chanyeol crosses the living room and ungracefully drops himself on top of Yixing, letting himself be enveloped in his arms. 

“My boss said he wants to use the song for this up and coming show,” Yixing says by way of greeting and Chanyeol nearly falls off the couch and Yixing had it not been for the other man’s strong grip around him. 

“I-” Chanyeol is at a loss for words, “I don’t even know what to say?” He feels almost as if he can’t contain the joy inside his body - he’s practically vibrating. “This is all I’ve ever wanted,” he admits shyly and Yixing squeezes him tighter before rolling them both off the couch. 

“That’s why we invited you over, we wanted to celebrate with you,” Yixing explains after helping him to his feet. 

Junmyeon is waiting for them at the table with a soft smile etched onto his face, so fond to the point where Chanyeol pulls his eyes away and hopes his red cheeks aren’t too apparent. He’s not used to being gazed at like that so openly. 

“That’s not even the best part, why didn’t you tell him all of it Xing?” 

Chanyeol looks up from his seat to see Junmyeon poking Yixing’s cheek and Yixing rolling his eyes. “I was going to wait until after dinner,” Yixing gives Junmyeon a pointed look and then turns to Chanyeol. “My company also wants to extend you on offer to help write songs for them. Could be for more shows, for groups, for anything they need really. The same thing I do,” Yixing announces and Chanyeol thinks he blacks out for a moment. 

“Yeollie.”

“Yeollie,” the voice repeats, this time louder and accompanied by a hand pushing his bangs back. He blinks twice and the world slowly filters back in around him. Junmyeon is staring at him almost like he’s afraid but his fingers don’t stop carding through Chanyeol’s hair. “Are you alright?”

Chanyeol nods and the hand is removed. “It’s just…” he pauses and licks his lips, trying to come up with the right words. “It’s everything that I’ve ever wanted. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you guys. It’s a lot to take in.”

“But you do accept right? We can meet with the company board and they’ll walk you through everything and all the legalities of it,” Yixing explains and grabs some chopsticks to dig into the food. 

“Of course I accept,” Chanyeol says through bites, “I’d be an idiot to turn this down.” 

“Then it’s settled,” Yixing gives him a warm smile, “Coworker.” He winks and Chanyeol chokes on the rice he shoved into his mouth. He holds up a hand to stop the pair from trying to help and downs some of his water. 

They eat and talk about how their weeks have been, Junmyeon tells Chanyeol that he finally realized who Jongdae was. 

“He came in a couple days ago looking pretty down in the dumps, so I gave him free coffee. I asked if he was okay and he kind of explained a bit of what was going on and then I realized it was the friend you were talking about,” Junmyeon explains as he’s finished with his chicken. 

Chanyeol frowns, “He left today to talk to Baek when he called on the phone and Jongdae looked pretty worried.” 

“It’s okay to be nervous for your friends but it’s really out of your control right now, right?” Yixing questions quietly, rubbing over Chanyeol’s back in soothing circles. 

“From what you told me, I think they’ll be okay,” Junmyeon voices and flashes a bright smile. “For now, let’s celebrate. Tomorrow you can worry about your friends. Tonight is about you Chanyeol.” 

He nods because they’re right. He can’t quite do anything to help Jongdae and Baekhyun - they’re grown adults and can handle some of their problems.  _ Some.  _

“We picked out a movie, Xing and Yeollie, go set it up and I’ll clean up the dishes,” Junmyeon announces, clapping his hands together and standing. He grabs their empty cartons and stops to give a kiss to the top of Yixing’s head before running the sink to start cleaning. 

Yixing drags Chanyeol into their living room and pushes him onto the couch, telling him not to move. Chanyeol watches as Yixing shuffles around, picking up a few things, grabbing a blanket and tossing it to him. Junmyeon joins after a few moments, sidling up to Chanyeol on his left and throwing an arm around his shoulder. 

“I’m seriously happy for you,” Junmyeon murmurs and Chanyeol turns his head just slightly to look at his friend. Junmyeon’s eyes are always so telling, always so soft and delicate, unable to hide anything. Chanyeol is a little afraid of what he sees there. “Aren’t you glad you mistakenly played your music out loud in front of me?” He asks voice filled with mirth. 

Chanyeol blushes, “I still can’t believe I did that.

“It was cute.”  _ Cute.  _ Chanyeol wants to scoot away but Junmyeon rests his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder and well, now he’s definitely not going to move. He couldn’t bear to make Junmyeon uncomfortable. He sits and waits for Yixing to finish setting up the movie. 

Just as Yixing is about to turn off the lights and join them, Junmyeon’s head pops up, “Wait, Chanyeol. In the freezer, there’s some ice cream in there. Do you wanna go get it?” 

Chanyeol really isn’t a huge fan of ice cream unless it’s chocolate rocky road, but he obliges them and gets up. The spot on his shoulder feels cold and he pushes that deep into his mind except Kyungsoo and Joohyun’s words echo in his ears and he thinks. He could tell Junmyeon and Yixing tonight. He really could. His fingers are his heart hammers in his chest at the thought of it. 

He opens up the freezer to spot three little tubs of ice cream and he tilts his head. One of them is chocolate rocky road. It’s not a big deal. Really it’s not - except it is. He remembers only mentioning it in passing to Yixing one night when he invited him out. It was just a dumb little thing, Yixing said he wanted to get to know Chanyeol more and they played twenty questions. It had been so long ago and Yixing still remembered. He doesn’t know why he feels so touched. Jongdae does this kind of stuff all the time but it’s different. 

“You guys got me my favorite ice cream?” Chanyeol asks quietly when he sits down. The other two rearrange themselves before answering and take up residence on either side of Chanyeol. He thinks he’s going to explode. 

Yixing scratches his neck, looking slightly embarrased. “I just remembered you saying that it was the only kind of ice cream you’ll eat.”

“We also...kind of bought your favorite snacks?” Junmyeon cuts in quietly and lets out a breathy laugh. 

“I like you guys,” Chanyeol blurts out. 

It’s quiet for a moment and he can’t really stand it. “I just,” Chanyeol fumbles for the right words but continues on, “I know you guys are together, so it’s probably dumb of me to say anything. And you’ve been together for so long and I wouldn’t want to get in the middle of anything. But I like you guys so much. And I want to kiss you both and I like being hugged by you both. Last time I spent the night here I realized just how right everything felt and I just...needed to tell you guys that.” He finishes his rambling and realizes in the process, he’d squeezed his eyes shut. When he opens them he’s greeted by the pair laughing quietly. He gulps. 

“Chanyeol,” Junmyeon begins and reaches his hand out, placing it on Chanyeol’s thigh. “We’ve been trying to get you to like us since we met you.” Chanyeol wonders how his voice is so calm and collected. 

“After Myeonie introduced you to me, I admitted to him that I thought you were the most endearing and adorable person I’d ever met,” Yixing explains, his hand finding Junmyeon’s and covering it on Chanyeol’s thigh. 

“I would’ve been surprised if I hadn’t thought the same exact thing the first time you walked into the cafe. Do you realize how cute you are?” Junmyeon questions and Chanyeol’s face is on fire. He’s not used to this. 

“I’m not cute,” he mutters. Cutely. 

“Chanyeol, you’re an overgrown puppy. It’s like your tail wags whenever someone says you did a good job,” Yixing points out and moves his hand to gently run across Chanyeol’s thigh. He shivers and grabs Yixing’s hand, not really sure what to do with it but knowing it definitely cannot do that. At least not yet. 

“What does an overgrown puppy have to do to get a kiss then?” 

Junmyeon pinches his thigh and Chanyeol lets out a yelp, swatting his hand away. “All he has to do is ask,” Junmyeon tells him with a grin. 

“Will you kiss me?”

The other answers by leaning forward, softly pressing his lips to Chanyeol’s. It’s exactly the type of kiss he expected from Junmyeon. He brings a hand up to rest on the back of Junmyeon’s neck, pulling him that much closer and pressing their lips together firmer. His nose smushes on Junmyeon’s cheek a little and he resists the urge to laugh because he thinks he could spend all day kissing Junmyeon. Except a little noise breaks him out of their bubble and he feels Yixing’s hand back on his thigh, running up and down. 

Chanyeol breaks away from Junmyeon with more difficulty than he thought, not wanting to stop kissing the other. He barely has time to face Yixing before the other is sidling into his lap like a cat and throwing his arms over Chanyeol’s shoulders. “You’re not getting away from me so easily. I’ve been waiting to kiss you since the first day I saw you.”

When Yixing kisses him it’s definitely with a bit more intent. It’s still sweet but there’s something behind it when he pulls on Chanyeol’s bottom lip just enough to get his attention. He pulls back after a few more kisses, each softer than the one before and Chanyeol thinks that despite Yixing’s bite, he’s still a softie at heart. 

“I think that we should make this a regular thing,” Chanyeol mumbles when Yixing scoots closer and drops his head to rest on Chanyeol’s shoulder, blowing warm puffs of air on his neck. His words cause Yixing to snort and Junmyeon falls into Chanyeol’s side, laughing quietly. 

“If you become our boyfriend, this can be a more than regular thing,” Junmyeon answers and Chanyeol nods.  _ Boyfriend. He has two of those.  _

“Good, then let’s all pretend to watch this movie and actually spend the entire time cuddling,” Yixing cuts in and then proceeds to rearrange them into the same positions as the last time Chanyeol slept over. 

“We still haven’t gotten the new couch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FINALLY FINISHED THIS AN JUST IN TIME FOR MY SWEETEST FRIEND KARI'S BDAY. i'm sorry if it seems a little rushed but i also just couldn't wait any longer to have them all get together <3 i hope you enjoy your birthday kari iluu
> 
> *side note, i'm sorry baekchen hfdjkf u guys can decide what happens with them <3

**Author's Note:**

> this was a gift to my sweetest friend kari. since chansulay are their ults, i decided to put my mediocre writing skills to use and write something for them bc i appreciate them and alllllll the stuff they've had to endure in becoming my pal T^T and because they're super awesome and amazing and lovely and kind and deserve the world so... this is for u kari i love u 
> 
> this whole thing is unbeta'd so if there are any mistakes, they're mine. also if u enjoyed this at all, come follow me on twt [@baekdaelight](https://twitter.com/baekdaelight) i talk about baekchen and suyeol a lot


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